12.30.2009

I'm so sorry that this is so late...I have lots to say, and NOT a lot of time to mess on the computer anymore!

Tuesday night, after arriving in Charleston, we wanted to do something fun. I had been dying to take Derrick to see Santa, but for some reason I hadn't. I have no idea why I waited, but this was our last chance. So on December 22 (note to self...don't wait this late next year), we stood in line to see the big guy.

This guy was stoked!

However, he was not so exited when it came time to actually let the Big Guy hold him.

That night when we got to our hotel, we realized we forgot the pack-n-play. Uh oh! We knew this was going to be interesting. Now, Derrick has NEVER slept with us at night. Ever. We didn't want to start that, and we're far to paranoid that we'd roll over on him or cover him up, or something. We usually put him in his bed and he cries for a minute and goes to sleep.

Well, since we were all sleeping together, we had to go to bed together. Justin left the tv on so we could see (and b/c D does NOT like to be in the dark), and we all assumed our positions. Justin and I were each as far to our respective sides of the bed as possible, cover was low, and D had plenty of room in the middle of this king sized bed. He cried for about a second, then he realized that we were going "night night" with him. He turned to me and started laughing! He was so excited! Then he started grabbing my face, you know, to make sure this was really happening. He would look over at Justin and clap. We knew this was going to be a long (but really funny) night.

For the next hour D laughed, clapped, grabbed faces, and talked. He was having a great time. Eventually we all fell asleep, but I think D is the only one who got any quality sleep. Poor Justin was on the side where the air was, so he was either burning up or freezing all night, and kept getting up adjusting it because he was worried about how hot or cold D was. I hung on to the edge of the bed all night because D decided to turn perpendicular to me and wanted all of the bed. Needless to say, 4:45 am came much too quickly, but we made it through, and no one got hurt! It was definitely an experience. One to write down in the books!

Anyway...we got to MUSC and got D checked in and he got his dose of Versed so he wouldn't mind leaving us. This is the first procedure he's had where he's been aware of strangers, so I was pretty worried about them taking him back. He didn't mind a bit! That made the experience a little easier! I wouldn't have been able to handle it if they would have taken him away crying. They probably would have had to call security on me!

This cath seemed much longer than the last one, and about 30 minutes before they finally told us we could go back, we were getting really impatient and worried. When we walked in and he heard us talking he started crying. Poor baby. I know he was worried we would leave him again. He really didn't settle down after that, and he kept reaching for me and crying. After a cath you're not supposed to sit up for two hours because of the risk of bleeding. Derrick was reaching so much that they let me hold him (yay!) early, I just had to make sure he was completely flat. Not easy, but I'd take it to hold my little man!

When the doctor came in to talk to us about the cath, she said that it went well, and that his pressures looked good for the Glenn. "He can have it anytime within the next couple of...months," she said!! I think my heart stopped. Justin and I looked at each other, then she said that surgery would most likely be in the next couple of weeks. Whew! There's just no way we can keep this wait, watch, worry thing up for a few more months!

She also told us that while they had D on the table, that he had some spells of atrial tachycardia, meaning his heart was beating too fast. While this was alarming to us, they weren't super worried about it. It can easily be controlled with medication, and many kids have tachycardia after surgeries. The strange thing is that he didn't have it while he was in the hospital the first time, when he had his first cath, or when he was hospitalized in October. They said that it could have been caused by the cath (although I'm not sure if it started before they actually started the cath or not, I forgot to ask that), or that it could be from dehydration. His blood was slightly acidic, meaning that he was a little dehydrated, so...I don't know. Unfortunately that's another worry.

They sent us home with a Holter monitor to monitor his heart for a solid 24 hours. We sent it back Monday, so we should hear from them about that shortly. We're thinking if they see anything too abnormal, surgery will probably be a little sooner so they can get him stabilized on medication or whatever they're going to do about that. We're praying that it was really nothing, but are glad that if indeed it is something, that they caught it now and can fix his little heart yet again.

When the anesthesia really started wearing off and D woke up, he was not a happy camper! He didn't like the wires hooked up to him, and just felt bad in general.

"Look what they did to my hand!"

Once they told us we could go, and we unplugged him, dressed him and walked out the door, he was a different kid! He started smiling and giggling! He is SO funny!

"See you later, alligator!"

I have more Christmas stuff that I need to post. Yes, I realize that Christmas is over, but this is for my little man's books. Sorry! :)

Thanks for all of the prayers, emails, and phone calls during, before, and after the cath. They mean SO much to us!!! Please keep our other friends in your prayers, and especially Logan, who had a cath today.

12.26.2009

Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.

Luke 2:11

Merry, Merry CHRISTmas!!

This Christmas has been one full of thanks and praise. We have been given the greatest gift we could ask for (after the great gift of JESUS of course!), and that is our own beautiful boy. We couldn't be more pleased with being able to be home for Christmas, and that Derrick has been feeling good...MUCH better than after his last cath!

On Christmas Eve we went to Gong Gong's and had a nice time playing and eating, then went home and Justin's parents and sister's family came over and we played and ate some more! Derrick was in a pretty good mood, especially after that Holter monitor came off!

D's favorite gift was this car. It looks like it's a junk yard car here...pre-wheels and such. He pulled himself up using the steering wheel and was waving like he was really driving! He was SO FUNNY!

Christmas Eve 2009

We opened one gift each on Christmas Eve...new pajamas! We hope to make this a new family tradition. Derrick was too worried about Flint to pay attention to anyone else.

Christmas morning...

Derrick was interested in opening presents for about a minute. He tore a few pieces of paper and he was over it! We had fun anyway.

He did want to show off his new Gamecock football though.

D dressed in new Christmas gear, ready to head over to Nona and Poppie's for some more Christmas fun. He ate a lot of peach cobbler over there! D loves Nona because she feeds him the good stuff!

I hope you all had a great Christmas spending time with the ones you love and remembering the REAL reason for the season!

I'll update a little more on D's cath soon...along with pictures of course. Sorry, I've gotten behind but have more to share about it. I know Justin gave you a great update, so I don't feel too bad about leaving you hanging. I'll get that up tomorrow or Monday.

In the mean time, the next month is going to be a super busy time for our heart friends. Please keep our friends in your prayers:

Logan is having a cath on Dec 30, and Andrew is having a cath in January. They will be doing procedures on both of these guys that could possibly hold off surgery for while. Jordan will be having surgery on January 12, and Ruthie will be having surgery January 27. Please, please pray for these kiddos and their families!!

As always, thank you so much for your support and prayers for our family, and especially for Derrick. We'll let you know as soon as we find out a date for his surgery...gulp!

12.23.2009

Derrick is out and doing well. The Dr. met with us and his pressures are ideal for surgery now. They did notice that he has an abnormal run of atrial tachycardia. During the procedure they caught it a few times. She said that he is stable during these runs and that it can be common after heart surgery. However, we are going home with a Holter monitor and D will probably end up on medicine to correct his rate.

He seems to be much happier this time than the last. He has eaten well for him already!!! He still can't move around for another hour or so. Shannon is holding him now, which they said we couldn't do, because he was moving around and reaching for her. I am sure she is so upset about that, not!!! So you will have to forgive me about this post. No glam, just the facts...I told Shannon not to yell at me about the look of the post.

Thanks for all your prayers! We really needed them and still continue to need them. We will probably be having surgery within the next few weeks as our surgeon will be leaving at the end of January.

We will update later....the computer is dying. Thanks again for all of your support!!!!

12.22.2009

I've been tagged by Stef, and I'm supposed to share seven things that you all may not know about me. Hmmm....

1. In college, I changed my major five times. Yes, five. A very expensive bout of indecisiveness.

2. I am obsessed with my calendar. I look forward to buying one every year, but it has to be the right one. It has to be written in in the right way and bothers me a lot when Justin writes something in it in enormous handwriting. It used to be color coded and very cute, but I don't have time for that anymore. One of my friends in college used to ask me to "do" her calendar. Yes, it's a problem.

3. When I was growing up, I always wanted to be a teacher. However, when I started working at a pharmacy, I decided I wanted to be a pharmacist. That's what I started college thinking. As I got into it, I quickly found out the school part of it was not fun. I still wanted to be a teacher (among many other things), but had to "fail" at trying to be a pharmacist first because everyone was so proud. I didn't have the guts to tell anyone that I really didn't want to continue. I DIDN'T not make it on purpose, but sure didn't try my best either. So I became a teacher and just married the pharmacist instead! :)

4. I can watch the Food Network all day long (and I did some days while I was pregnant and home alone). I love to watch cooking shows, but still have a very difficult time coming up with something to fix for dinner.

5. I am a cheese addict.

6. Nine days before my 24th birthday, my best friend Jenny was killed in a car accident. I miss her every single day. We had been best friends since 3rd grade, and we fought like sisters. If we ever have a daughter she'll be named Jenny.

7. When we were in 7th grade, Jenny, her sister Vicki and I took a drive around their yard in their great-grandmother's big green car. Somehow, Jenny backed the car into the pool fence and it got stuck. We had to call a guy across the street to come pull the car out so we didn't get in trouble. The only reason we got caught was because I wrote a note to her about it and her mom found it! Otherwise, no one would have ever known (until now at least)! I wasn't allowed over at their house without parents for a while! Ha! Lesson learned: don't write things down! (Sorry Mom...)

We're heading down to Charleston this afternoon when Justin gets off of work in hopes that we have time to do something fun when we get there. We have to be at the hospital by 6:15, so there won't be too much fun happening with that early morning coming! We have a HUGE LOAD of BraveHEART Baskets to deliver, and a donation check from the pageant to drop off, so that's pretty exciting!

Please say extra prayers for Derrick in the morning that his cath goes smoothly and he doesn't have any issues. I was reading over the letter that the cath doctor sent about the procedure...isn't it crazy that they can go into your heart and not open you up?! I mean, I knew that, but sometimes when you just stop and really think about things, they're just amazing, aren't they?

12.20.2009

Derrick, you are EIGHT months old today! Wow! I can't believe how quickly time has flown by. It seems like you were just a tiny little baby only a few weeks ago, but at the same time, I can't remember much about life before you. You've grown up so much lately...

You cut your FIRST tooth Thursday! You won't really let us see it, but we sure can feel it!

You got your first haircut this month.

You wear a size 2 diaper, and mostly 3-6 month clothes, but you can wear some 6-9s.

You're almost up to fourteen pounds now.

You look like such a little boy. Where did our little baby go?

You're "talking" A LOT. Your new "word" sounds like "get 'em, get 'em." We think you may be trying to say that because that's what we say when we tickle you. It's just a guess!

You love real food! We cannot eat without sharing with you, and you don't care at all what it is. You'll even eat dill pickles! You'll grab the plate or our hand and pull it to your mouth to get a bite, especially if we're going too slow for you. Sometimes you don't believe that we're feeding you what we're eating unless you actually see it come off of the plate. We can't fool you!

You ate pudding for the first time tonight. A whole Snack-Pack...I'd say you like chocolate pudding! (And at 120 calories per pack, you'll get more!)

You LOVE music and LOVE to dance!

You like to watch daddy play Guitar Hero. You clap and dance while he's playing. You're his biggest fan (well, second biggest :) ).

You reach when you want to be picked up or when you want someone different to hold you.

You're almost crawling now...almost in the crawling position anyway. Those feet get you every time.

You love to read. :)

You've just gotten over your third ear infection.

You wave and say "bye bye." You don't do it at the right time or when we ask you to, but you understand that waving and "bye bye" go together. Does that count as your first word?

You have an early interventionist and and physical therapist that come to play with you now. They're helping you work on ways to get you good and strong so your next surgery doesn't set you back too much.

You enjoy watching people, but don't want to be held by anyone you don't know well. The stranger anxiety has kicked in full force.

You don't like to be left alone or where you can't see one of us at all times.

You love your sippy cup, and you're learning to drink out of it by yourself. It's a process.

You have to sleep with your nite-lite. You do NOT like being in the dark when you go to sleep.

You get into EVERYTHING. If it's even remotely within your reach, you try to get it. Often times, you are very successful.

You've been going up to the children's sermon at church.

Your favorite toys are pens, the remote, and our cell phones.

You have a "big boy" smile now!

It's amazing how quickly time has gone by since you've been here. You're wildly entertaining and keep us laughing all of the time. You're more fun than we ever imagined possible.

12.19.2009

We've been decorating since the day after Thanksgiving, yet our house is FINALLY finished and put back together (sometimes). It seems like it takes forever to get all of the 'normal' things put away along with the empty boxes that held the Christmas stuff. It doesn't help that I keep coming up with all of these projects for us to do (some of which have been a total bust), but I keep coming across all of these super cute Christmas ideas that I can't pass up. Thankfully I have a great husband that's willing to either help me, or ignore the fact that I'm trying to squeeze in one more thing and making another mess in the process.

Anyway, we're finished and enjoying the decorations for a few more days, because Christmas is in ONE WEEK!

We have three trees this year:

The living room tree.
(It does have lights, but I can't get them to show in a picture.)

When we got married, we had to compromise. Growing up we always had a real tree with colored lights, and Justin always had a fake tree with white lights. We finally agreed on a fake tree with colored lights. I just LOVE colors. White lights are beautiful, and that's mostly what you see on trees now. Someday I may give in and have white lights...Oh, who am I kidding?
Colored lights are in my blood!

The dining room "retro" tree is adorned with green and brown to match the rest of the dining room. This is how I satisfy my need for a theme (you know, since we don't have white lights on our big tree, we can't have a "theme" on that one). We don't have lights on this tree, because it won't hold lights. (Some of you know this, but) these trees used to have a color wheel that sat under them and changed colors. I'm sure the aluminum tree all sparkly and colorful is gorgeous!! We obviously don't have a color wheel, but I'm pretty certain that I would LOVE it! It's much prettier in person. The picture doesn't do it any justice. (And just in case you're wondering, it's raining outside. The windows aren't that dirty.)

Finally, we have D's GAMECOCK tree (it also has lights, but...). For the skirt, we used the Gamecock SC flag...creative, right? I have to thank Justin for that! Hopefully it's not illegal, or sacrilegious, or something. Shhh. Don't tell! :) D loves having the tree lit up in his room!

We've been having lots of photo shoots. I just can't help myself.

I'll post more pictures of this little elf soon.

We've also been doing some crafts. I'll post pics of the rest of them after Christmas.

This wreath was super easy, and came from the Thrifty Decor Chick. I love it, but it's extremely difficult to take a picture of it on a mirror!

I've REALLY been struggling to keep the house clean...

someone likes to take things out of boxes. A lot.

It's going to get really difficult when he's mobile!

Overall we've been pretty good around here. I've been trying my best to stay as busy as possible. I have a to-do list that's a mile long and I'm determined to get everything crossed off before we leave Tuesday night for D's cath. I have to admit that it's full of ridiculous things like rearranging the kitchen cabinets where we moved some things out, and stuff like that. There's no true need for that to take place right now, but I realized the other day that I desperately need to stay busy.

As long as I'm not thinking about reality, well, it's not reality. There's just a lot to do before Christmas, and that's it. I'm just busy. I'm not subconsciously ignoring that Derrick is going for another heart cath in five days. I'm not ignoring that surgery is looming...most likely really close. I'm not ignoring that I'm completely not ready for surgery again, and not ignoring that it kills me to look at Derrick so happy and bouncing around not having a clue about what's about to happen to him.

I'm not ignoring anything.

I'm just trying not to think about it. Because, quite frankly, it hurts too much.

12.12.2009

**Disclaimer- Many of these pictures are super out of focus and terrible, but with an almost 8 month old, you get what you get! Sorry! The quality gives me the hives too, but...

We all have bad hair days...

but when you can't find a product to get those wild hairs under control, it's time to call in the professionals.

So I called up my hair girl and got D on the books. Michelle is my favorite hair girl of all time! I have been to about 1001 different people and was never satisfied...then I found Michelle. :) I knew D would trust her to give him his first 'do.

He was a little nervous,

but tried so hard to be a big boy.

It took a little creativity,

and there was lots of goofing around,

but we got the job done.

And, although he may not appear to be in this picture, D is happy with Michelle's handiwork.